Quick Pickled Ramps

For these quick pickled ramps, fresh, ramps bulbs and stalks are put up in the mix of red wine vinegar, water, turbinado sugar, and salt and pepper. The pickled ramps are ready to eat within an hour and last in the fridge for up to 6 months.

With their sweetly salty garlicky smack, these quick pickled ramps are exactly what you want to make during those precious few weeks each spring when you see ramps for sale and obsessively gather up armloads of the elusive spring lovelies to take home and find that even if you had ramps morning, noon, and night while they’re available, you couldn’t possibly satisfy your penchant for them.

[Editor’s Note: Those of you who are unacquainted with ramps, allow us to explain. Technically known as wild leeks, ramps have floppy green leaves which narrow to a slender white bulb and all parts of the plant pack quite a garlicky wallop. They grow only in certain select conditions and, as such, are available for just several weeks early each spring in a handful of places throughout the States. Because they need to be foraged, you’ll typically find them only at farmers markets and road stands and the occasional local-minded grocery store, including some Whole Foods Markets. Because ramps make themselves known so damn infrequently, devotees tend to gather them up in obscene amounts so as to revel in the abundance while they may. And to preserve them for later. For ideas on how to use these quick pickled ramps, see What To Do With Pickled Ramps below. For inspiration on how to use the rest of the plant, here’s how our editors and our favorite Manhattan chefs cook ramps. Originally published April 29, 2016.–George Weld and Evan Hanczor

What To Do With Pickled Ramps

The most magnificent thing about these quick pickled ramps isn’t just how easy they are to toss together or the fact that you can start noshing on them almost immediately rather than waiting weeks for the pickling solution to take hold and permeate them through to the core. Nope. Perhaps the most impressive attribute of these pickled ramps is their versatility. They’re terrific simply nibbled straight from the jar. Also when slipped into a grilled cheese sandwich. Added to a charcuterie board. Swapped for a pickled onion in a martini. Stirred into a compound butter and plopped atop fish, steak, or chicken. Served alongside pulled pork or, actually, roast or grilled pork of almost any sort. And don’t forget that once the ramps are gone, the pickling liquid can still impart their essence to all manner of things including vinaigrettes, steamed mussels, marinades, dirty martinis, and more.

Ingredients

15 to 20 small ramp bulbs (trim any small roots and the green floppy leaves and reserve the greens for sautéed ramps)

Directions

1. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pepper in a deep pot and bring to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice cubes and just enough water to allow the ice to float.

2. When the liquid is boiling, plunge the ramps into it and make sure they’re fully submerged. Cook for 15 to 30 seconds, depending on how skinny your ramps are, and then grab tongs or a small strainer and gently remove them from the pickling liquid and transfer them to the ice water until completely cool. Remove the pickling liquid from the heat and let it cool completely.

3. Drain the ramps and pat them completely dry.

4. Arrange the ramps in a 1-quart jar and pour the room-temperature pickling liquid in over the ramps. The ramps need to be completely submerged. Store in the refrigerator and eat at your leisure—they are ready to nibble within hours although they keep for at least 6 months. The longer the ramps remain in the pickling liquid, the more pronounced the pickle tang.

Recipe Testers Reviews

This quick pickled ramps recipe was partly the thrill of the chase—I thought they would be easy to come by, but, after a number of failed attempts, I located the most beautiful, pencil-thin, super-fresh ramps in Denver. The sign on the ramps in Denver said, “Only available for a few weeks!" Two weeks later, tonight, at the time of this writing, I just spotted ramps in a store here in Chicago that looked equally fresh but much bigger than the ones I had purchased out West. The recipe itself is straightforward, easy, and quick. Because I had super-skinny ramps, I needed to be especially gentle when removing the ramps from the boiling pickling liquid. Also, the cooling process was barely a couple of minutes and the ramps fit nicely in a quart jar. I put them in the refrigerator after about an hour and a half. I tasted one the next day and it was delicious—a little pickley, a little oniony, a little garlicky. The biggest difference between the photograph above and my beautiful pickled ramps is that my pickling liquid is VERY deep and beautifully red from the red wine vinegar I used and not at all the pale Champagne color of the liquid in the photo. I look forward to testing these special treats in several months. In the meantime, these special treasures will be happily enjoyed as a condiment, savoring each bite with the knowledge that these are a once-a-year treat. Speaking of treats, when I shared with a friend that I had made these ramp pickles, she shared in return that she has enjoyed a jam made from pickled ramps in a super-special grilled cheese sandwich, and I’m maybe going to need to try this before I’m out of stock of pickled ramps! In the meantime, these treasures will be happily enjoyed as a condiment, savoring each bite with the knowledge that these are a once-a-year treat.

I am a self-professed onion and garlic lover. I love onions—white, green, red, sweet, or plain old yellow. The same is true with garlic— shallots, scallions, leeks, all members are welcome in my kitchen! And there's so much hype about ramps! With all the talk of their limited availability, I was so excited when I went to Whole Foods and saw a large display as soon as I walked in. This recipe was pretty straightforward, with no real surprises. The resulting pickled ramps were delicious with a great texture. Once the ramps were cleaned and cut down, there wasn't much left. I would have purchased twice the amount since there was quite a lot of liquid (just over a quart). The ramps were perfectly blanched in less than 30 seconds but still had a nice bite to them. I used an 18-ounce confiture jar to store the ramps. I tried the ramps after the pickling liquid cooled and I had poured it over the ramps in the jar. The flavor of the brine went nicely with the sweet, mildly leeky, garlicky flavor of the ramps. I felt almost guilty not using the leafy greens in the same recipe, I felt like they were so valuable (and not cheap)! Although I wish I had bought twice as many since they were addictive and I could have eaten the entire batch. I can now add ramps to another member of the onion and garlic family that I love.

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